A bomb scare on board an Iranian civil aircraft bound for China forced the IAF on Monday to scramble its SU-30 fighter jets. The plane remained in the Indian airspace for nearly 40 minutes.
After Tehran informed India to disregard the bomb scare, the plane was escorted by the fighter jets to the Indian airspace limit for an onward journey to the designated destination. The initial warning about the bomb on the Mahan Air aircraft was sounded by the Lahore Air Traffic Control (ATC) about 9 am, it was learned.
A call regarding the threat was received at 9.20 am, said the Delhi Police. The Delhi airport was subsequently put on alert. The IAF scrambled two SU-30s from Punjab and Rajasthan respectively.
Mahan Air later tweeted that the report was “fake” and that the flight was safe.
“In the name of Allah. Following the publication of an allegation of a ‘threat to bomb’ a Mahan Airlines flight over India and request an emergency landing the public relations of Mahan Airlines informed that the Airbus 340 passenger plane of this company was traveling from Tehran to Guangzhou in China,” read a statement by Mahan Air.
“The pilot, as soon as he learned about the possibility of a bomb in the flight, shared the situation with the control center… and recognised that this story was fake and the flight was completely safe.”
“It seems that the design of such reports in the current international and domestic conditions was proposed in order to disturb the security and peace of mind,” it added.
Giving details here, the IAF said, “On October 3, intimation was received of a bomb scare on an airline bearing Iranian registration, when it was transiting through Indian airspace. IAF fighter aircraft were scrambled, which followed the aircraft at a safe distance.
The aircraft was offered the option to land at Jaipur and then, at Chandigarh. However, the pilot declared his unwillingness to divert to either of the two airports. After a while, intimation was received from Tehran to disregard the bomb scare, following which, the aircraft continued on its journey towards its final destination.
All actions were taken by IAF as per the laid down procedure, jointly with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The aircraft was under close radar surveillance by the Air Force throughout the Indian airspace.”
The incident happened on the Mahan Air flight W581 that was flying from Tehran to Guangzhou, sources said.
Meanwhile, senior Delhi Police officers said they received a call about the bomb scare in a Tehran-China flight from the Air Traffic Control but soon they were informed by the ATC that the flight was not landing in Delhi.
The Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Delhi airport remained in contact with the IAF when the aircraft was in Indian airspace, sources said. The Delhi ATC received inputs from the Lahore ATC that there was a bomb threat on the Mahan Air flight.
Subsequently, the Delhi ATC informed the pilots but they decided to fly on. As the aircraft did not follow the suggestion, laid down operational procedures were put into action, they added.
As per the flight tracking website flightaware.com, flight W581 is being operated with an Airbus 340-600 aircraft. It had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran and was to arrive at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou.
